IOA to seek world body help on sparring of boxing bodies

President Ramachandran urges federations not to move court, warns that players may be denied entry on grounds of non-compliance.
IOA president N Ramachandran and secretary general Rajeev Mehta | EXPRESS
IOA president N Ramachandran and secretary general Rajeev Mehta | EXPRESS

CHENNAI: The imbroglio between Boxing Federation of India (BFI), Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is set to continue. It had seemed BFI would be recognised by IOA after recognition by the International Boxing Association (AIBA). However, given IABF is the recognised body with IOA, the issue is set to drag on.

“We cannot have two federations for one sport,” IOA head N Ramachandran told reporters after the body’s Annual General Meeting on Tuesday. “So we’ll write to IABF, giving them claims of BFI and seek views. This is in keeping with the process of natural justice, where we’re seeking views. Once they reply, we’ll take the matter forward.”

Given the House has to be assembled to ratify IABF’s de-recognition and BFI’s affiliation (and there is no guarantee of that happening), one more year could pass on before there is more clarity in the matter (a Special General Meeting could also be convened for the matter to be resolved).

Jay Kowli, secretary general of BFI, said they would keep fighting. “We were hopeful of getting the decision here,” he said. IABF president Abhishek Matoria shared more details. “The IOA disputes committee oversaw a hearing on Monday. Both bodies (IABF and BFI) presented cases. IOA will write to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and AIBA, and explain to them the current scenario.”

He sounded pleased with the way things had gone in the AGM. Resolving of disputes was the main theme of discussion as Ramachandran also explained the situation facing the Basketball Federation of India.

“The matter is currently in court. We also had a word with K Govindaraj, who is president according to the court. There are issues and we’ve asked the court for a speedy resolution.” He hoped that issues in four of the disputed federations (others being gymnastics and volleyball) would be cleared soon.

He also issued an ultimatum to all bodies with regards to procedure over disputes and grievance. “Today, a major chunk of our expenditure goes towards fighting legal cases. Whenever there’s a dispute, a person files a case and Respondent No 1 is IOA, Respondent No 2 is president and Respondent No 3 is secretary general. This practice has to stop.”

There will be repercussions for associations who do not follow this diktat. “We’ve told all federations to resolve all disputes within themselves. If not, present your case to the three-man IOA disputes committee (Virendra Nanavati, Rajeev Mehta and Anil Khanna). If they don’t co-operate, we’ll take a tough stand.”

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